The Broncos announced Sunday that they signed rookie offensive tackle Charles Sweeton and waived injured tackle Connor Rains.

Rains, a college free agent out of Wyoming, hurt his foot during Friday’s training camp practice and was placed on the waived/injured list.

Sweeton is a 6-foot-5, 291-pound tackle from the University of Tennessee-Martin. He was a four-year starter and a first-team Ohio Valley Conference selection as a senior last year. He was initially signed by Kansas City in May as a college free agent before being released a week later.

King, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound rookie out of Kansas, had 30 receptions for 537 yards and one touchdown as a redshirt junior for the Jayhawks last season. He signed with the Miami Dolphins in May and competed in mini camp and organized team activities before being waived on Monday.

Joe Don Duncan walks out for the first day of Broncos training camp on Friday. (Brent Lewis, The Denver Post)

His given name is Joseph Donald Duncan.

“I am not a Joseph,” the Broncos fullback said with a smile on Sunday.

No. No, he’s not. Joe Don Duncan is a 6-foot-4, 270-pound brick house of a fullback, a position he’s playing for the first time. Joseph Donald is a family name. It changed with his father. And a movie.

“My dad told me he was quite the bad (dude) back in the day,” Duncan said. “So people started calling him Joe Don for the actor (Joe Don Baker) who played the main character (Buford Pusser) in ‘Walking Tall.’ ”

It wasn’t long before his son began answering to Joe Don. He grew up a star catcher and outfielder, but his path changed when he played tackle football for the fist time as a high school freshman at Notre Dame in Riverside, Calif.

“I loved it,” Duncan said.

The name captures attention. The story is worth following. Duncan began an unlikely journey to the Broncos after his prep career. Though he was recruited by junior colleges and small schools for baseball as an outfielder, Duncan chose football. He began at Sacramento State in 2008, tried defensive line at El Camino Community College in 2009-2010 and finished as a tight end at Dixie State University in Utah.

He started 20 games at Dixie, catching 135 passes for 1,994 yards. Though he had invites to postseason all-star games, he injured his foot on Nov. 14, 2013.

“Why do I remember the exact date? Because it’s the last time I played in a game,” Duncan said.

He earned an invite to a Colts rookie camp last year but nothing came of it. He elected to coach as a graduate assistant at Dixie, working with receivers. It allowed him to learn the game from a new perspective and work out regularly.

“I said I would give it a year and see if a team called or I would just keep coaching,” Duncan said. “I was sitting on my couch when the Broncos called.”

Duncan dominated in his tryout, landing a free agent contract. He’s faces long odds to make the team, but he is taking advantage of this opportunity.

“Joe Don, we were all waiting to see. And he hit somebody in the mouth today so we were happy about that,” running back C.J. Anderson said.

Second-year receiver Cody Latimer has been champing at the bit for more time on the field and more targets from Peyton Manning. The 2014 second-round pick played eight games last season but was targeted only four times and had two receptions that averaged out to 11.5 yards apiece.

So he found his reps elsewhere.

Latimer joined Manning and some of his Broncos teammates at the quarterback’s annual Duke workouts in early April. He absorbed the advice of veterans, including Emmanuel Sanders, throughout mini camp and organized team activities. And for the better part of the offseason, Latimer has been tabbed the Broncos’ Player to Watch in 2015.

“Starting from Duke to here, OTAs — we never got to run with the ones,” Latimer said. “It’s been good. Time has been good. Like I said, there’s always stuff we can work on. We’re trying to get better every day.”Read more…

From left, Broncos quarterbacks Trevor Siemian, Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler run through drills during Day 1 of training camp Friday. (Brent Lewis, The Denver Post)

There’s no time for chatter during a Gary Kubiak training camp. No standing around. No minute or second spared.

The energy at Kubiak’s practices is palpable, even to those watching from the sidelines. For the 90 players running through drills and formations, the practices can be draining.

“I’m exhausted,” safety T.J. Ward said Saturday. “These have been two really hard output days, but we got some good work in and guys are fighting through it.”

The morning workouts open to fans feature a heavy rotation of individual and situational drills, with units changing often to give coaches a look at every combination of players. Weight-room sessions are quick but efficient. The afternoon walk-throughs are more like jog-throughs. And the three meetings — up from the usual two — are sandwiched in between.

For some, the pace is nothing new. Kubiak has created a following, and many of his players from past teams have re-joined him in Denver. They know the routine — and its benefits.Read more…

T.J. Ward doesn’t want to just be a part of a good Broncos secondary. He’s seeking greatness.

“We’re light years ahead of where we were last year,” Ward said Friday, the team’s second day of training camp. “I want (us) to lead the league in interceptions. I want (us) to lead the league in sacks from the secondary and lead the league in turnovers.”

Led by three Pro Bowlers — cornerbacks Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib, and Ward — the Broncos have the talent. Now it’s a matter of execution. Even with all their accolades, their perceived slight from being left off the NFL Top 100 list should prevent them from being complacent.

Last season, the Broncos were tied for seventh in the league in interceptions with 18. Although they were second in the league in rushing yards allowed (79.8 per game), the Broncos were tied for 22nd in forced fumbles, with seven.

“We dropped some interceptions last year. I would like to see us have more forced fumbles,” Ward said. “I want to see us score on defense. Big plays and turnovers, that’s what we want and that’s what we can improve on from last year.”Read more…

You won’t hear C.J. Anderson listed when most people talk about the best running backs in the league.

The 2013 undrafted rookie free agent, who broke out last season for 1,173 yards from scrimmage and a Pro Bowl appearance, isn’t itching to change people’s minds either.

“I just try to stay in my lane. We have superstars,” Anderson said after Friday’s training camp practice. “Leave (Demaryius Thomas), Emmanuel (Sanders) and Peyton (Manning) to be the stars and I’ll keep sneaking up on people.”

Anderson, a 5-foot-8, 224-pound back out of Cal, said he feels like he’s in great shape. He’s lost weight and said that he’s prepared to take on the load as the Broncos starting running back if called on.

Gary Kubiak’s zone-blocking, run-oriented offense will call for adjustments from not only quarterback Peyton Manning but also his top targets. A more balanced offensive attack likely means fewer catches and yards for his receivers.

But when Demaryius Thomas signed his five-year, $70 million contract, he wasn’t concerned. In fact, he set his sights even higher.

Rod Smith, the Broncos’ career leader in receptions (849), yards (11,389) and touchdowns (68) who won two Super Bowl titles with Kubiak as his offensive coordinator in Denver, said doing so may not be feasible for Thomas. And not because he lacks the talent but because the offense just doesn’t cater to gaudy receiving numbers.

“It’s definitely not a knock on Demaryius,” Smith said. “I love what he’s thinking. His mentality is, ‘Take my opportunities and make the best of it.'”Read more…

Perhaps the most lasting image of Brock Osweiler last season was of him throwing his hands up in frustration in the third quarter of a blowout win at Oakland. He had thought he would finally get time on the field. FINALLY. But as he grabbed his helmet, Peyton Manning trotted back out to assume his usual position.

It’s been the story for much Osweiler’s tenure in Denver. He’s had a chance to learn from a hall of fame quarterback but has seen little game time because he backs up a hall of fame quarterback.

As he enters the final season his contract, and as Manning’s future remains up in the air (his deal doesn’t expire until after 2016), Osweiler may still not get a chance to prove his value during the season.

But general manager John Elway expects him to get his reps during training camp, which opens Friday, and in the preseason.

“We’re going to evaluate him through training camp and evaluate him through preseason,” Elway said Thursday. “He got a lot of reps this offseason and we saw what he could do in practice, so we’ll do the best we can to try to evaluate him. We’ll cross that road when we get there.Read more…

“Late in my career, that was my best friend, the running game. And I think that running game will be Peyton’s best friend, also,” Elway said. “It’s obviously going to be a little bit of an adjustment, but you got two smart, bright offensive football minds that are competitive and want to win. There was never, ever a thought in my mind that this wasn’t going to work.”

The Broncos veterans along with Peyton Manning report on Thursday for training camp. The first practice is Friday. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

Football training camp brings more optimism for fans than players. It’s a grueling grind of pain and performance as dozens of hopefuls attempt to grab roughly 10-to-15 open roster spots.

The Broncos’ camp will be better this season, if for no other reason than that whispers won’t be heard. The fans will return after a one-year hiatus because of construction involving the breathtaking fieldhouse. Fans bring energy, help pull players through the practices. It will be great to have them back.

The enthusiasm for the Broncos is real. For good reason. Denver returns most of its top players from a fourth-consecutive AFC West championship team, and features a new coaching staff led by Gary Kubiak and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. For all the talk about Peyton Manning’s fit in the new offense, the defense represents a fascinating story. If all goes as planned it won’t look anything like last year’s unit. That group stopped the run effectively, setting a franchise record for fewest rushing yards allowed per game, but struggled to create turnovers. Phillips relishes blitzing and pressuring the quarterback, an attack which should work given a secondary which features Pro Bowlers Chris Harris, Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward.

The Broncos are a flawed team. Like pretty much everyone, including the Super Bowl champion Patriots, who revamped their secondary and face the possibility of playing the first four games without suspended superstar quarterback Tom Brady.

Questions exist in Denver. They begin along the offensive line. Can the Broncos protect Manning and establish a more powerful running game with at least new three starters?

As of today, rookie Ty Sambrailo opens at left tackle, Ben Garland will be at left guard, where has never started a game, and Gino Gradkowski is at center after playing minimally in Baltimore last season. It leaves holdovers Louis Vasquez at right guard, where he’s among the game’s best, and Chris Clark at right tackle, a position he lost last year to Paul Cornick.

So what about Jake Long? He will visit the Broncos on Thursday. He’s expected to be at Dove Valley in the early afternoon, meaning there could be news when general manager John Elway meets the media at 1 p.m. The questions on Long are twofold: Is his twice-repaired right ACL over the last year healthy? And will he be viewed as a candidate to start at left tackle? Long has started all 96 games of his NFL career since the Dolphins made him the top overall pick in 2008. And all came at left tackle. Again, we should know more later today.

Long has visited the Falcons and Giants this week. He met with the Giants twice this offseason and has said to be patiently considering his options.

There should also be news on the injuries of linebackers Brandon Marshall (foot) and Danny Trevathan. Will Marshall open on the temporary PUP list — not the sidelined for weeks list — if he’s unable to practice? Even so, he expects to be ready for the season opener on Sept. 13. Trevathan is further along in his recovery from surgery to repair his kneecap.

Peyton Manning and the Broncos report to Dove Valley this week for the start of training camp. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Attending Broncos games this season won’t be cheap.

Denver boasts the NFL’s second-highest median ticket price on the secondary market in 2015, trailing only the Super Bowl runner-up Seahawks, according to Vivid Seats.

Broncos games cost a median $385 apiece, while the Seahawks are at $412. Aaron Rodgers’ Packers rank third, at $375, and Tom Brady’s Super Bowl champion Patriots are fourth, at $365.

The costliest Broncos home game this season is the Week 8 matchup against the Packers on Nov. 1, which currently has a get-in price of $269 a ticket and median price of $679 on the secondary market. Longtime Broncos owner Pat Bowlen will be inducted into the team’s Ring of Fame during the game.

Below is the full league breakdown, followed by the Broncos’ home games:Read more…

Peyton Manning and the Broncos report to Dove Valley this week for the start of training camp. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

UPDATE: The morning workouts open to fans will run from 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. for the remainder of camp.

Broncos training camp returns to the team’s Dove Valley headquarters Friday and will again be open to the public.

The 14 practices that run through Aug. 20 will be held from 9:30-11:30 a.m. each day and will be free of admission for fans, but seating and parking is on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Fans will be seated along the grassy berm on the west side of the fields, which had a previous capacity of 5,000.

Last summer, as the practice facility underwent a $35 million makeover, camp practices were closed to the public, save for three sessions at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, including a scrimmage.Read more…

The NFL upheld Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for his role in Deflategate. (Maddie Meyer, Getty Images)

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ruled Tuesday that the four-game suspension handed to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for his role in Deflategate would stand.

League-appointed attorney Ted Wells led an in-depth investigation of the Patriots’ alleged underinflated footballs used in the AFC Championship. The 243-page report concluded that it was “probable” Patriots personnel deliberately deflated balls and, on May 11, Goodell fined the team $1 million, stripped them of two future draft picks and suspended Brady for the first four games of the regular season.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft said he would not fight the punishment, but the NFL Players Association filed an appeal on Brady’s behalf shortly after the May ruling.

In a lengthy statement released by the league Tuesday, Goodell explained his reasoning for upholding the four-game suspension for the star quarterback, citing Brady’s destruction of his cellphone:Read more…

Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and Peyton Manning congratulate each other after the Broncos victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-19 on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

The Patriots’ allegedly deflated footballs have had no affect on Tom Brady’s popularity in retail stores. The New England quarterback was the retail champion on the NFL Players’ Association’s Top 50 list in sales for the first quarter of the 2016 fiscal year.

The list, released by NFL Players Inc., the marketing and licensing arm of the NFLPA, is based on total sales of all officially licensed merchandise from March 1-May 31, 2015.

Peyton Manning, who was No. 1 on the list following the third fiscal quarter of last year, fell four spots to No. 5, behind quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick (No. 2), Russell Wilson (3) and Aaron Rodgers (4). Demaryius Thomas, who last week signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Broncos, capped the list at No. 50.

Tim Tebow, who hasn’t played an NFL snap since January 2012 and isn’t a lock to play another this season with the Eagles, came in at No. 31.

Marine Veteran Joshua Blea pays his respect at a memorial setup in front of the Armed Forces Career Center/National Guard Recruitment Office which had been shot up on July 18, 2015 in Chattanooga, Tenn. (Joe Raedle, Getty Images)

UPDATED JULY 23, 9 a.m.: On Thursday it was announced that Peyton Manning has started already contributed to the Chattanooga Heroes Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga to help support the families of the victims and anyone affected by the recent shootings in Tennessee.

“Our family has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the great city of Chattanooga, and it has a very special place in our hearts,” Manning said via DenverBroncos.com. “But on July 16th, 2015, this strong, welcoming community was forever changed by the tragedy that unfolded.

Donations can be made online at CFGC.org or by mail, with checks made payable at to the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga with “Chattanooga Heroes Fund” in the memo and addressed:

“I do want to say that, thankfully, our community has come together to make sure that these families have the financial support that they need beyond that, and there’s an effort underway in Chattanooga now,” Corker said in a speech on the Senate floor. “I hope people in the world will participate to make sure that, again, there is financial support to sustain these families in light of what happened.

“My friend and a great Tennessean, or at least we claim him as that — he lives in Chattanooga for part of the year — Peyton Manning has lent his name to this effort, and my sense is you’re going to see a generous outpouring to ensure that at a base level some of the needs of these families, if not all financially, will be dealt with in an appropriate way.”

Peyton Manning’s United Way PSA on Saturday Night Live in 2007 remains one of — if not the — finest performances by an athlete guest on the show. The delivery, the lines, the facial expressions — Manning had it all.

But Archie Manning, in speaking to The Shreveport Times, revealed an amusing behind-the-scenes detail about the skit. Peyton apparently wasn’t too thrilled about hitting the kids, even if it was with only a Nerf ball. The kids’ parents, however, seemed delighted by the idea.

One of his favorite stories was about Peyton’s appearance on Saturday Night Live when one of the skits was a mock football camp and Peyton was required to hit a child with a football. Manning said his son didn’t want to do it even though it was a Nerf football.

“But all the parents on the sidelines were yelling, ‘hit my kid, hit my kid,’ ” said Manning, who was still feeling the effects of back, knee and neck surgeries.

Peyton Manning on Saturday visited military personnel and Chattanooga, Tenn., police officers at the Naval Marine Corps Reserve Center on Amnicola Highway where four United States marines and a Navy sailor were killed by a gunman, WRCB reported.

The Chattanooga police posted a photo on Twitter of Manning’s visit and thanked for him stopping by to honor the fallen servicemen late Saturday.

A 24-year-old Kuwaiti-born gunman opened fire on the military recruiting station Thursday, before going to the reserve center where he killed four U.S. marines. A fifth victim, a 26-year-old Navy sailor, died Saturday from injuries he sustained in the attack. Two others, a marine and a Chattanooga police officer, remain hospitalized for injuries that have been described as non-life threatening.

That attack, considered a domestic act of terrorism, is being investigated by the FBI and local officials.

Demaryius Thomas said one of the most difficult parts of the offseason was not being able to work out with his quarterback, Peyton Manning.

Thomas was a notable absence from Manning’s annual Duke workouts, which he attended the last three years. Receiver Emmanuel Sanders wasted little time shaking up the social media world in April when he used Photoshop to add Thomas in a post-workout photo.

Thomas chose to rehab his lingering left ankle injury, but he wavered back and forth with the decision.

“That was real tough, actually. At the time, my ankle was still bothering me. But also I wanted to go down and see what the new routes were and be with Peyton,” Thomas said. “I got so much love for Peyton.

The first thing you notice about Demaryius Thomas is the crisp navy blue suit and perfectly trimmed hair. Then you notice the smile that never fades. If anyone could look the part of a $70 million player, it was Thomas on Friday.

But while he may have a bigger — much bigger — contract, he’s carrying around a smaller frame.

The Broncos’ star receiver, who held out of the team’s offseason workouts during his contract negotiations, returned to Denver slimmer and faster. For much of the last few months, he’s been in Atlanta, continuing to rehabilitate the ankle he injured last December and training twice daily.

After playing last season around 228-229 pounds, Thomas said he’s now down to 222.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.